Any former lawyers out there?

[Esquire2Doctor]

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I am a third year associate at a law firm planning to start a postbac program this summer. So far, I have been admitted to Columbia, but I am still waiting on a few other schools (NYU, Bennington, Goucher, etc.).

I know postbac programs are very difficult and competitive, but I am wondering how the competition compares to law school. How hard are the classes compared to law school classes?

My concern is that I went to a state school for undergrad and I don't want to find myself in over my head at Columbia's postbac program. In undergrad, I only took one basic math class and one basic science class. Although I did well in both, I'm concerned about the level of competition at Columbia. Law school was very competitive, and I did well, but it's a different type of thinking than science classes... Also, I hear the students at Columbia ain't stoopid. 🙂

Part of me wants to go to an easier program without a curve in the science classes, but I definitely plan to do my homework before deciding...

 

[aSagacious]

Law school was very competitive, and I did well, but it's a different type of thinking than science classes...

Yes, there are actually right and wrong answers in science, you can't simply fluff your way around the answer 😉

Anyway, the nature of the material is rigorous and they throw a lot at you in a very short period of time (basically 2 1/2 years of pre-reqs in 1 year). Thankfully, post-bacs are relatively low risk (if you consider 10k/semester low risk) and you will be able to gauge very quickly your aptitude in the sciences.

As far as the competitiveness of the program, this varies tremendously based on the school. I've heard, for example, that Georgetown is quite cut-throat, while Cornell's classmates are quite cooperative. I'm afraid I don't know too much about Columbia, specifically, so I suggest you search for related threads (here's one to start off with: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=686259).

Good luck!